WHAT A DISGRACE
Peeping Tom
Kaieteur News
March 22, 2007
It will take far more than positive thinking for Georgetown to have working traffic lights in time for the big invasion of visitors next week. With just under a week to go before the Super Eight round of matches of Cricket World Cup 2007 kicks off in Guyana , the much anticipated traffic lights are yet to go up in the city.
What a shame that after all the hype about the need for Guyana to put its best foot forward we are likely to host the Super Six Round of matches without the city having traffic lights at the traditional junctions. What a disgrace it will be for this country to be showcased in front of the entire world as perhaps the Caribbean country with the most non-working traffic lights.
Meantime the Guyana Office for Investment carried full-page advertisements about the number of hotels that they have facilitated. The Peeper however is confident that most of these hotels are going to be booked for the exciting stage of the competition which is due to commence next week.
However, I am not so confident that all the bed-and-breakfast facilities for which a great deal of effort and investment went into will have full bookings. In fact, I believe that the tourism bubble for this World Cup has burst as evident by some of the empty stadiums seen during some of the matches.
What is even more disappointing from the local perspective is the fact that up to last week the authorities in Guyana were installing a new conveyor belt at the country's main airport. I would have expected that this would have been in place months ago.
One of the things that we must begin to appreciate is that last minute planning just would not do.
Last minute planning is for one–off events; and while Cricket World Cup 2007 is a one-off tournament, it offers the potential for the take-off of the tourism sector in Guyana . At the least, therefore, one would have expected that two things would have been in place long before Cricket World Cup 2007. The first is of course the new baggage conveyor belt at the airport and the second is working traffic lights.
I am wondering whether Mr. Positive is going to be pleased about the fact that one week before the Super Eights get going, there are no working traffic lights at some of the busiest intersections in the city.
I am not interested in traffic lights near the stadium. That will be a sham because as we know traffic will be severely restricted during match days and there will be such a heavy police presence on the East Bank Road that it will make any traffic lights near the stadium redundant.
I hope however that positive thinking can do the trick and that come next week we can show the world how despite the long wait we can finally replace all those non-working traffic lights in the city plus add a few at other junctions. I hope we can pull it off, but if we do not, please recall that it was the Peeper who had just a few days ago pointed to the dangers of peaking.
One thing I am certain though. If per chance the lights are not up and running in time for CWC 2007, no one is going to be held responsible for this failure, no one. You can bet your bottom dollar that no one will be placed on the food lines because of this fact. No one will be fired. Life will go on as usual.
As for Mr. Positive, he will continue to be the consummate optimist. And for him too things will go on merrily, merrily as if life is but a dream.